The future for ITER essentially falls into four phases:

• the phase prior to the granting of the construction license, in which the Joint Implementation Agreement is eventually signed or ratified and the ITER Organisation is set up;
• the estimated seven year construction phase in which the first large hardware contracts are launched (some subcomponent procurements uncritical for licensing may even be launched earlier) and in which eventually all subsystems are assembled and coommisioned;
• the estimated 21 year operation phase in which one year of integrated system commissioning is followed by 10 years of operation aiming primarlly at establishing the optimum physics of a power reactor and determining the best operating mode to obtain the most relevant tritium-breeding blanket testing, followed by a 10 year operation phase to exploit those conditions;
• a decommissioning phase, the first 6 years of which being the final responsibility of the ITER project, to deactivate the plant by removal of tritiated materials, activated corrosion products and radioactive dust, as well as in-vessel components, followed by about 20 further years (minimum) under the responsibility of the host Party allowing for radioactive decay, and a further 6 year period of dismantlement and disposal of the remaining plant.